I am so excited… giddy, jumping up and down… literally, to share this polvorones recipe with you.

As I’ve shared over the past couple of years, polvorones and mantecados are one of the most popular Christmas cookies in Spain. I can’t imagine a Christmas without a soft crumbly Spanish almond cookie.

As I’ve shared in the past, they’re traditionally made using pork lard. I’d spend a day home rendering lard specifically for these cookies and then spend a couple of days making batches to share with family and friends.

As good as the polvorones turned out, they didn’t seem to quite match up to what you would find packaged in fine wooden boxes in pastelerias throughout Spain.

That is until NOW!

I don’t want to gloat, but let me tell you, “these are spot on!”

My secret… extra virgin olive oil.

I know…. I know… I was just as surprised. In this batch I also added pure anise extract with orange zest to the toasted flour and ground roasted almonds. The combination of flavors was perfect.

500grams (4 1/2 cups) whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all purpose flour (*important, the cup measurement is using fresh ground flour. If using store bought flour the cups may be less since it’s denser. For the best results, weigh the flour)

8. Increase the speed one notch until it’s blended through (speed 3 on my kitchenaid). Do not overmix. The final dough should be soft and supple and not stick.

9. Place the dough on the counter and form a rectangle about a half inch thick. I used my rolling pin.

10. You can either cut out shapes with cookie cutters or simply cut in small rectangles with a knife.

11. Raise the oven temperature to 350F.

12. Place cut cookie shapes onto a cookie sheet or pizza stone and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until they start to crack on top. *tip Once you see the cracks forming, they are done. (I used cooled pizza stones per batch which took 22 minutes to cook through)

The results are soft, crumbly, stick to the roof of your mouth goodness. Seriously, make a batch; take a bite; close your eyes; and travel back to Spain.

Diana Bauman

Diana is a mother of three, proud wife, and humbled daughter of God. She finds the most joy meeting with Jesus in her organic gardens where she’s able to witness his hand of creation. She is completely blessed to be able to call herself a stay at home mom where she home educates her children, joyfully serves her husband, and cooks simple, economical food to nourish her family. As a Latina and first generation American, she is prideful of her heritage and enjoys spending some of her summers abroad in Spain visiting her family. She loves connecting with people on facebook, google+, pinterest, and instagram.

I made these the other day and dipped the tops in melted chocolate -so delicious! The only change I made was using spelt flour instead of whole wheat. I didn’t have any wheat at the time, and the spelt worked just as well.

Ummmmm…. It looks amazing! In Spain, polvorones usually have sesame seeds on top (it is not mandatory, but usual). My favorite polvorones are made with cinnamon powder and pork lard, but with olive oil are nice too!

These are amazing! And they were easy to make, which was a bonus (even without a stand mixer). My aunt lived in Spain for thirty years, so I’m always looking for Spanish recipes to try. Thank you so much!

I just made these and they’re like out of the wooden box! I divided the dried ingredients in two batches and made one with cinnamon and the other one with aniseed extract and lemon zest. Now I’m trying to think of the other flavors that usually come in a Seleccion de Polvorones. I will try cacao and coconut. Thank you so much for sharing!

I just made these for my daughter to take to school for her Spanish class. As she told me last minute and it is late at night and I didn’t want to have too much clean up on my hands……I made them entirely in the food processor. They turned out great!

I’ve just tried this recipe and I’m disappointed that I can’t get the dough to stick together enough to get the cut shapes onto a cookie sheet without falling apart. Perhaps I’ve added too much flour, now that I’ve read your note in this post (this would have been helpful to include in the book. Also, the addition of the anise extract is not mentioned in the book.)

These were delicious! I had my reservations about making a cookie without butter or eggs, but the texture was perfect. Loved how each bite was melt in your mouth with the perfect amount of orange and anise.

I'm Diana – mother of three, proud wife, and daughter to an amazing God. Here you'll find an encouraging community of like minded mothers, fathers, and everyone in between seeking to nourish our families with good, simple food. You'll find us in our gardens, foraging, canning, preserving and enjoying a simple life.